Table 1 baseline characteristics of the patients who received imatinib treatment

Timing of imatinib use

85

139

224

 < 0.0001

primary front-line imatinib

47 (55.3%)

42 (30.2%)

89 (39.7%)

recurrence (with prior adjuvant imatinib)

26 (30.6%)

50 (36.0%)

76 (33.9%)

recurrence (without prior adjuvant imatinib)

9 (10.6%)

18 (12.9%)

27 (12.1%)

Imatinib after palliative surgery

3 (3.5%)

29 (20.9%)

32 (14.3%)

Sex

85

139

224

0.5781

    men

48 (56.5%)

84 (60.4%)

132 (58.9%)

    women

37 (43.5%)

55 (39.6%)

92 (41.1%)

mean age (± std)

60.2 (± 12.7)

56.8 (± 12.8)

58.1 (± 12.8)

0.0586^#

    min

32.4

19.6

19.6

    median

60.0

55.5

57.8

    max

85.1

84.5

85.1

ECOG PS

40

81

121

0.3924

    0

19 (47.5%)

36 (44.4%)

55 (45.5%)

    1

18 (45.0%)

37 (45.7%)

55 (45.5%)

    2

1 (2.5%)

7 (8.6%)

8 (6.6%)

    3

2 (5.0%)

1 (1.2%)

3 (2.5%)

Stage

81

132

213

0.2149

    I

8 (9.9%)

7 (5.3%)

15 (7.0%)

    II

10 (12.3%)

18 (13.6%)

28 (13.1%)

    III

24 (29.6%)

55 (41.7%)

79 (37.1%)

    IV

39 (48.1%)

52 (39.4%)

91 (42.7%)

Primary site

85

139

224

 < 0.0001

    esophagus

0

6 (4.3%)

6 (2.7%)

    stomach

85 (100%)

0

85 (37.9%)

    duodenum

0

20 (14.4%)

20 (8.9%)

    jejunum

0

43 (30.9%)

43 (19.2%)

    ileum

0

21 (15.1%)

21 (9.4%)

    small intestine, others

0

13 (9.4%)

13 (5.8%)

    colon

0

6 (4.3%)

6 (2.7%)

    rectum

0

14 (10.1%)

14 (6.3%)

    peritoneum (include omentum)

0

13 (9.4%)

13 (5.8%)

    others^a

0

3 (2.2%)

3 (1.3%)

Genetic alteration

65

112

177

0.0014

    c-KIT exon 9

1 (1.5%)

17 (15.2%)

18 (10.2%)

    c-KIT exon 11

55 (84.6%)

81 (72.3%)

136 (76.8%)

    c-KIT exon 13

1 (1.5%)

0

1 (0.6%)

    c-KIT exon 17

2 (3.1%)

0

2 (1.1%)

    PDGFRA

2 (3.1%)

1 (0.9%)

3 (1.7%)

Wild-type c-KIT/ PDGFRA

4 (6.2%)

13 (11.6%)

17 (9.6%)

Baseline albumin level

47

83

130

0.0088

    < 3.2 g/dl

14 (29.8%)

9 (10.8%)

23 (17.7%)

    ≥ 3.2 g/dl

33 (70.2%)

74 (89.2%)

107 (82.3%)

Baseline neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio

70

121

191

0.6460

    < 3.0

26 (37.1%)

50 (41.3%)

76 (39.8%)

    ≥ 3.0

44 (62.9%)

71 (58.7%)

115 (60.2%)